


Mail

by fenwickio



Category: Whitechapel (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-10
Updated: 2013-10-10
Packaged: 2017-12-29 01:29:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/999269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fenwickio/pseuds/fenwickio
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>** Potential series 4 Spoilers**<br/>Based on the prompt: Mansell emails Kent from Chandler's computer like he did with Buchan/ Riley.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mail

**Author's Note:**

> This started out as a short piece and has evolved into something more, this is the first part and the next part will hopefully follow shortly.  
> This is my first time writing/ publishing work so feedback would be appreciated.

It had been a quiet day by Whitechapel standards, a low key murder that had been picked up by another division as it actually fell into their jurisdiction, none of the team minded, they were all stressed out by the strange occurrences at the incident room and elsewhere. 

DC Kent was sat at his desk, mindlessly tapping his pen to a familiar rhythm, to him at least, he wasn’t sure that anyone here would recognise the song, he was working through a report, fixing any errors and making sure that everything was neat and perfect, he didn’t want to disappoint Chandler again. He jumped as the email alert sounded on his computer, the email was just a boring reminder about a meeting. He frowned as he noticed that he had another email from Chandler that had been sent earlier in the day, he read it and his frown only grew deeper.. was that email even intended for him? He tried to keep calm and act casual, the email was definitely sent from his bosses computer but it could have been intended for someone else.. surely Chandler wouldn’t set such an email to him, definitely not at work and Kent seriously doubted he would send it in private either. He sighed, it wasn’t anything racy, far from it.. it was a simple invitation to dinner at a nice restaurant in Westminster but the doubt in his mind was big, why would Chandler ask him to dinner like this, why would he ask him to dinner at all?

Kent decided to just ignore the email, it didn’t sit right with him and with everything that was going on with Mansell he couldn’t help but think that it was some kind of sick joke from the man who was dating his sister again. He sighed and finished off the report, he had to print it and take it into Chandler and he was feeling ridiculously nervous about talking to his boss, fearing he would put his foot in it again. He walked over to the printer to collect the report, passing Mansell as he went.. the other man made a snide comment under his breath and Kent had to swallow the hot flash of anger that welled up inside of him, what Erica saw in him he didn’t know, but he had promised not to come between them again and he didn’t want to cause any more trouble in the incident room. 

He straightened his suit jacket, almost subconsciously and shot a glare at Mansell when he made a comment about him wanting to look good for Chandler.

“You really should stop saying crap like that” Kent snapped as he walked back to his desk to put the papers into a folder, Miles was looking at him and Mansell like they were about to cause trouble again but Kent said no more and walked away, he might not be so able to bite his tongue if it turns out that it was Mansell that sent the email to try and cause him to look stupid.

He took a breath and walked to the office where Chandler was busily working away, he straightened his jacket again and silently cursed himself, why did he have to be so obvious about things? It was no wonder Mansell was constantly teasing him. He knocked and entered the office “Sir I have the report that you requested” he said in a crisp tone, trying to stop his nerves from showing, why was he even nervous? He did this day after day.

“Shut the door behind you” Chandler said without looking up from the paperwork on his desk, things may have been quiet but that didn’t mean that there wasn’t an inordinate amount of paperwork to do, he glanced up at the younger man and nodded at the door before looking down again.

Kent hesitated, the request wasn’t unusual but he normally just walked in and handed the report over and left after a minute or so “Yes.. Sir” he closed the door and turned back to look at the Detective Inspector, his palms clammy and his heart hammering in his chest. “Is something the matter?” he asked with a brief look of concern.

“Hmm? No.. not really” Chandler said, finally looking at the DC properly “I am just a bit concerned about you and Mansell, you both told me that the issue between you was sorted and yet every time I am in the incident room there seems to be some kind of animosity between the two of you” he straightened the items on his desk as he spoke “I don’t expect you two to be best friends but I just want you to put aside your differences and stop winding each other up, it isn’t good for morale and there is too much risk of it leaking into crime scenes and we don’t have room to be making mistakes” he sighed “can you do that?”.

Kent lowered his gaze to the floor and nodded slowly, what choice did he have? If things got worse then it would probably be him who had to pay the consequences, he was the youngest, which meant he would probably be moved to another division and he really did not want that to happen. “Sorry.. yeah I promise that I will stop winding him up, it’s just that..” he bit his lip as he looked back at his boss “well.. um.. I think he might have gotten the wrong idea.. and he likes to wind people up..”

“Kent..” Chandler warned “you aren’t making any sense”.

“I know..” Kent admitted, he had no idea how to word what he wanted to say “I think he might have sent an email to me.. from you” he swallowed nervously “asking me to dinner because he thinks that I like you..” he rubbed his hand across his face as he felt stupid for adding the last part and of course he was still feeling nervous, because he did actually have feelings for his boss.

Chandler blinked in confusion “how did he manage to do that? Did he come in here when I was out earlier?” his focus more on the fact that Mansell had used his computer and accessed his emails than on the suggestion that Kent was attracted to him or that there had been an invitation to dinner sent. His eyes flicked over his things, nothing seemed out of place but he had already straightened everything automatically when he got back anyway.

“If that’s everything.. I think I should leave? I mean I wasn’t here either so I have no idea what Mansell did.. If it even was him” Kent shifted his weight from foot to foot, not wanting Chandler to ask anything else for fear of himself saying too much.

Chandler snapped out of his anxious thoughts about his stuff being used and looked at the younger man, noting his nerves and uncomfortableness.. he had noticed that Kent admired him, it was pretty obvious but he had never thought of it as anything more than a kind of hero worship, simply because he was in charge, not because he thought he was some kind of hero, far from it. He played with the pen on his desk as he suddenly felt uncertain about this whole situation, if the younger man did have more intense feelings for him then it changed everything, made this almost dangerous.. and it explained a few things, why Kent had acted in certain ways when it seemed unusual and out of character. He realised that the DC was waiting for him to dismiss him “umm.. sorry.. yes you may leave, thank you for the report, it is very good work” he said in a normal tone. 

As Kent moved to open the door Chandler stopped him “wait..” he said quietly “I think it is probably best if we talk about this.. the reason why Mansell did this”.

Kent turned back with wide eyes “Talk about what sir? There is nothing to talk about, it’s just Mansell reading too much into things” he tried, knowing that if he admitted his feelings then it would just make things uncomfortable and Chandler would probably feel that he would have to do something about it because he was an honourable man, meaning that one of them would leave the department, not that he would do something romantic or otherwise.

The look in the younger man’s eyes made Chandler falter, it confirmed everything and was in stark contrast to the words coming from Kent’s mouth, the part that made Chandler falter was that it made him question himself, question his own feelings.. he had never paid attention to what he felt, opting to remain aloof and distanced because it was easier that way. “Right.. If you say he is reading too much into it then fine, just don’t let any of this affect your work” his tone had changed, become more dismissive, almost cold and he hated it but there was nothing he could do, he had to make sure that Kent didn’t even have a hint that his feelings could be returned, it would cause far too much trouble. 

Kent was confused by the sudden change in Chandler but he forced himself not to wonder about what had caused it, he left the office and returned to his desk, almost glad when a murder was called in as it gave him and the others something to focus on.


End file.
